FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BLOOD CHOLESTEROL - PAGE 2

Blood cholesterol dropped an average of 12 percent over four weeks for patients on a low-fat diet that included soy-fortified baked goods, according to University of Illinois researchers. Susan Potter, an assistant professor of foods and nutrition, said the finding could be significant for people with high cholesterol levels. Other studies have indicated a 2 percent drop in heart attack risk for every 1 percent drop in blood cholesterol. "This is good news for people with high cholesterol levels or with a family history of high cholesterol levels," said John Erdman, director for the division of nutritional sciences at the university.

Blood cholesterol levels are not engraved in stone. Variations can occur from hour to hour, season to season and laboratory to laboratory. "Although it has been appreciated for a number of years that cholesterol levels do vary, what was less appreciated was how much," said Robert Nicolosi, professor in the department of clinical sciences at the University of Lowell in Massachusetts. How much turned out to be a fairly significant amount, said Nicolosi, co-author of an article on cholesterol level variations that appeared in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Q-The tests are all back, and apparently much of my problem can be attributed to a high fat content in my blood, namely, cholesterol. My doctor has prescribed a diet for me. I prefer starting right away with some medicine, for I have real doubts that this diet will do anything for me. But the doctor insists: First diet, and then we will see. Do you think, if I persist, that it will do some good? A-Toward the end of World War I, a handful of European doctors noticed a decline in coronary heart disease.

Q--I have a high cholesterol level. What dangers could this present for me? Can I do anything to lower my cholesterol level? A--A National Institutes of Health (NIH) advisory panel recently concluded that an elevated blood cholesterol level is a major cause of coronary artery disease. The panel suggested that lowering this level reduces the risk of heart attack. Although there has been great debate over how much of a role diet actually plays in the body's production of cholesterol, the NIH panel strongly recommends that all Americans reduce daily cholesterol intake to 250 to 300 mg and reduce total dietary fat intake to 30 percent of their daily caloric intake.

Imagine eating an ice cream-like dessert with no fat and lowering your blood cholesterol at the same time. It's possible. A U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher has developed a gel made from oats that can substitute for the saturated fat in ice cream. Yet it is rich in the soluble fiber that has made oat bran such a national craze. Dr. George Inglett, working at the USDA's northern regional center in Peoria has found a way to treat oat bran and flour to yield a nearly tasteless fat-like gel, called Oatrim, that retains a significant amount of beta-glucans, the stuff that apparently helps lowers blood cholesterol.

Q. Is it possible to have too low level of blood cholesterol, and what are the possible dangers of it? A. An article in the September issue of the medical journal Circulation shows that people with low cholesterol levels rarely die of heart attacks but are more likely to die from strokes, liver cancer, lung disease, alcoholism and suicide. There may be a valid reason for the strokes. People with very low blood cholesterol levels have blood that is slow to form clots, therefore they are at increased risk of bleeding into their brains.

Q. I work really hard to keep my blood cholesterol level under control. But a recent newspaper article said that low cholesterol can cause depression. Should I be concerned that lowering my cholesterol will make me feel bad? A. The headline on the newspaper article you read states that a study published in a British medical journal, The Lancet, shows that having low cholesterol causes depression. That's not what the study showed. Dr. Lawrence Palinkas of the University of California at San Diego conducted a study showing that men over the age of 70 who have very low blood cholesterol levels are three times more likely to suffer from depression.

Q. I've heard that taking corn oil can prevent a heart attack. How can this be so if most oils contain fat? A. There is no evidence anywhere that taking corn oil prevents heart attacks, and there is considerable evidence that taking too much can harm you. Eating food rich in saturated fat and cholesterol raises the blood levels of cholesterol and can cause a heart attack in susceptible people. If you limit the cholesterol and saturated fat in your diet, your blood cholesterol will go down.

Chocoholics, here's some good news to munch on. Your favorite cacao-seed-derived flavoring has stuff in it that won't push blood cholesterol up to artery-clogging levels, a researcher says. Stearic acid, a prominent component of the cocoa butter in chocolate, is a saturated fatty acid that will not elevate blood cholesterol levels and will not promote blood clots associated with heart disease, reports Penny Kris-Etherton. She is a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University's College of Health and Human Development and studies the relationship between diet and coronary heart disease.

Q--My doctor tells me I have hardening of the arteries and has put me on a special diet. Is that really going to do any good. A--Toward the end of World War I, a handful of European doctors noticed a decline in coronary heart disease. The same thing happened following World War II. Doctors speculated that this happy phenomenon was related to the relatively small amounts of meat and other fatty foods in sparse wartime diets. Today, researchers using high-tech equipment are coming up with some pretty reliable evidence that people who lower their blood-cholesterol levels with diet or drugs can stop heart disease in its tracks.